Even as governments and environmentalists forecast a peak in oil demand within a generation –
and China and India say they may eventually ban gasoline and diesel vehicles – leaders of the
world’s biggest oil firms are not buying the argument that their traditional business faces any
imminent threat.
A Reuters analysis of clean energy investments and forecasts by oil majors, along with exclusive
interviews with top oil executives, reveal mostly token investments in alternative energy. Today,
renewable power projects get about 3 percent of $100 billion in combined annual spending by
the five biggest oil firms, according to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
